A local tattoo shop owner decided to create a venue for local artists to sell pieces online during the coronavirus pandemic with First Friday: Locked Down.

Avery Willmann and his wife, Kaylee Willmann, own Undeadink Studios, a tattoo shop in Spokane Valley. Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has closed nonessential businesses, the Willmanns are struggling to pay their bills while caring for their four children at home.

They figured other tattoo artists were struggling, too.

“We were just trying to talk about different ideas we could do to try and help out all the other artists in our area, not just people in our shop,” Avery Willmann said.

The couple decided to create a weekendlong online art auction for tattoo artists to sell art in other forms, hoping the sale would help artists financially and lead to commission work.

Willmann has been a tattoo artist for 15 years and has owned Undeadink for the past nine years. He specializes in black-and-gray realism.

While tattoo shops are often each other’s competition, Willmann said he has always tried to cultivate a community of tattoo artists in Spokane, something that has become easier during the pandemic.

“One of the things that we try to do in our shop is really no drama with other shops,” Willmann said. “We actually try to be a community and try to help each other out versus going after each other.”

Fellow tattoo shop owners and longtime friends of the Willmanns, Heatherann Franz Woods and Zack Woods, heard about the sale and asked if they could help. The couple owns Missing Piece Tattoo in Spokane.

The four of them reached out to tattoo artists they know and recruited artists from 25 tattoo shops to participate in the sale. The artists hail from across the Pacific Northwest, including Spokane, Seattle and Boise .

Their art will be posted on the First Friday Facebook event starting Friday.

The sale includes oil and acrylic paintings, prints, drawings and other forms of original art.

“There should be anything for anyone out there that likes that kind of art or wants to support local artists,” Willmann said.

A photo of the art along with the name of the artist and the shop where they work and a base price will be posted. Then buyers can bid in $5 increments over the next two days. The auction will close on Sunday at midnight, and buyers will be contacted by the artist to collect payment and ship the piece.

The Willmanns aren’t benefiting financially from the event but said they hope to keep their community of tattoo artists afloat during this difficult time.

“We’re not trying to put our shop ahead of anyone,” Willmann said. “All the money goes to the artists.”